A High Court judge has today ruled the process used by the mayor of London to expand the capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone was lawful.
The decision comes following a legal challenge by a group of Conservative-led councils at the High Court earlier this month.
The outer-London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon along with Surrey County Council had claimed on three grounds that there was illegality with the way Sadiq Khan had sought to forward the expansion.
Claiming that there was an “unfair and unlawful” approach to collecting views over Mr. Khan’s proposals to enlarge the zone beyond the North and South Circular roads, the councils had also challenged the scope of the mayor’s power to execute his new plan.
But today Mr. Justice Swift stated that each of the three claims presented failed and dismissed them with a short summary in court.
Lawyers for the local authorities taking legal action against the mayor’s plan had claimed that “key information was not disclosed” during the ULEZ consultation.
But Mr. Swift said today that he was “satisfied” with the legality of the mayor’s consultation.
‘Landmark Decision’
Mr. Khan reacted to the judgement as a “landmark decision” and confirmed that he will press full steam ahead with expanding the ULEZ on August 29, as planned.He said, “The decision to expand the ULEZ was very difficult and not something I took lightly, and I continue to do everything possible to address any concerns Londoners may have.”
The coalition of councils who launched the challenge released a statement saying they were, “hugely disappointed that the High Court has today determined that there is no legal impediment to the mayor’s expansion of ULEZ to outer London but accepts its decision.”
The statement added that “Although the mayor of London and TfL may have the legal right to implement the scheme, the question remains whether the public would agree he has the moral right to do so, given it was only last week that the court of public opinion delivered a different verdict with the surprise by-election win in Uxbridge, an election that was seen as a referendum on the expansion of ULEZ.”
The extended ULEZ will see drivers in outer London pay a £12.50 daily fee from August 29, if their vehicles do not meet the required emissions standards.
This concern was addressed by the mayor’s office, stating: “The ULEZ is a highly targeted scheme aimed at taking the most polluting vehicles off the roads. Nine out of ten cars seen driving regularly in outer London on an average day are already Ulez compliant and will not pay a penny when the zone expands, while still benefiting from cleaner air.”
The new borders will reach Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.
‘Hugely Disappointing’
Councillor Ian Edwards, leader of Hillingdon Council called on Mr. Khan to “further reflect” on his plans, suggesting that, “Many thousands of low-income earners, vulnerable people, ordinary workers and small businesses who are the beating heart of our borough will have to shoulder further costs which they cannot afford.”A similar sentiment was felt in many initial reactions, with AA spokesman Luke Bosdet commenting that: “A restriction on car use that prices hundreds of thousands of low-income workers, families and elderly drivers off the road was inevitably going to cause a backlash. “Today’s ruling is hugely disappointing but the AA hopes that the London mayor will now adopt some of the measures other cities with restrictions have used to reduce the impact on drivers who can least cope with them.”
The mayor claims that the scheme will improve air quality but with little hard evidence appearing from his consultation to support this, critics are questioning if car owners have been left paying £12.50 per day to move from their driveway without a tangible outcome.
Speaking to The Epoch Times via text, Howard Cox, founder of the FairFuelUk pressure group and Reform Party candidate for the upcoming mayoral election, said, “Overwhelming dishonesty is rife at Labour’s London City Hall and was at the heart of manipulating health fatality data, a public consultation and ignoring the majority who took part.”
‘Damaging and Harmful’
In a scandal back in January, the mayor’s office was found to have suppressed dozens of responses to the public consultation on ULEZ expansion, including many responses from members of the FairFuelUk group, found to have been neglected in the final statistics.Yesterday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave Mr. Khan an ultimatum on his London housebuilding plan, including a deadline of three to four months to make changes to the city’s master plan or risk having housing secretary, Michael Gove, step in to intervene.
In a bid to restore public confidence, Mr. Khan stated, “I’ve been listening to Londoners throughout the ULEZ rollout, which is why from next week I am expanding the scrappage scheme to nearly a million families who receive child benefit and all small businesses with up to fifty employees. I will continue to look at new ideas to support Londoners.”
Nonetheless, a large group of anti-ULEZ protestors appeared after today’s hearing on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice, including Alan Miller, a co-founder of the Together Declaration, who told The Epoch Times, “the political question, the democratic question, the moral question, to Mr. Khan has had the majority of people already voice their concerns ... They’re against it, it’s going to be damaging and harmful, even people in the Labour party ... have told him to pause.”
